Prior to undergoing surgery on his broken left leg early Sunday morning, UFC middleweightAnderson Silva asked doctors, "When can I train?"

Silva, widely regarded as one of the greatest fighters of all time, suffered a severe leg injury during a failed bid to recapture the UFC middleweight title against Chris Weidman on Dec. 28 in Las Vegas.

The Brazilian was rushed to a local hospital with a fractured tibia and fibula in his left leg. Dr. Steven Sanders, the UFC's orthopedic surgeon, operated on Silva for "about an hour," inserting a titanium rod into his broken tibia bone.

Sanders, who spoke to media members via conference call on Monday, gave Silva a recovery timetable of 3 to 6 months and said he could resume training as early as 6 to 9 months. He added that Silva's age, 38, should have zero effect on his recovery.

"When the fracture heals, the bone will achieve its original strength. In addition, it will also have a titanium rod that is 11.5 millimeters in diameter shoring up that area. Whether a fighter returns after injury can be multifactorial, but from a bone perspective, when the fracture heals you can start to test the soft tissue."

Silva remains hospitalized in Las Vegas as of Monday afternoon. Sanders did not have an estimated time for his release.

Watched it live. Sucked that is how the fight ended. Two fights in a row where Weidman got pretty lucky against silva. Hopefully the fight against Belfort doesnt have any freak stuff like those last two fights.